West Vancouver cops work with U.K. counterparts to nab fraudsters

An elderly West Vancouver resident who fell victim to phone fraud on Jan. 11 has been reunited with the $185,000 she transferred to scammers, police confirmed Thursday.

In a release, police said the 70-year-old woman was tricked into transferring the funds to an account with the Royal Bank of Scotland after the scammers falsely claimed her credit card and accounts had been compromised.

The suspects, who posed as a bank fraud investigator and a Vancouver police inspector, urged her to transfer the funds out of her accounts for “safekeeping.”

According to the release, detectives contacted police and bank authorities in the U.K. and steps were taken to freeze the transfer.

In the meantime, the force’s partnership with U.K. investigators has resulted in the arrest of a Bedfordshire, England-based scammer in relation to a West Vancouver case opened last April.

Officers in the county north of London arrested a 27-year-old man on Jan. 21 on charges of acquiring, using or possessing criminal property, and concealing, disguising, converting, transferring or removing criminal property.